Process of making sounding-boards for pianos.



No. 879,373. PATENTED FEB. 18, 1908.

A. DOLGE.

PROCESS OF MAKING SOUNDI NG BOARDS FOR PIANOS. APPLIOATION FILED OUT. 29, 1903.

ALFRED DOLGE, OF LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA.

PROCESS OF MAKING- SOUNDING-BOARDS FOR PIANOS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 18, 1908.

Application filed October 29 1903 SerialNo. 179.073.

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED DOLGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los An eles, State of California, have invented an discovered a new and useful Improvement in the Process of Making Sounding-Boards for Pianos; and I do hereby declare the following.

to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to the process of making sounding boards for planos and other musical instruments, and it has for itsobjects to render the process of manufacture more expeditious, to lessen the cost of production' and to produce superior sounding boards than have heretofore been placed upon the market.

The saving of time, labor, cost of manufacturing and to produce sounding boards having greater capacity for conducting sound Waves than have hitherto been used, are the factors for consideration to be hereinafter more particularly set forth in the description of my improved process, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, to the figures and reference numerals, letters and characters marked thereon; and the invention consists essentially in the steps and series of steps enumerated hereinafter and fully described in the specification, shown upon the drawings appended hereto and specifically pointe out in the claims made a art hereof.

attain these objects by the series of steps delineated in the specification and set forth in the accompanying claims and illustrated upon the drawings, m which-- Figure 1, is a plan view of. one of the boards the ends thereof broken away, from which the strips comprising the sounding board is made up; Fi 2 is a plan view of one of the strips mitere at each end, cut from the board shown upon Fig. 1, of the drawing; Fig. 3, is a plan view of a series of the mitered stri s shown upon Fig. 2 glued, assembled an pressed together; and, Fig. 4 is a plan View of a finished sounding board made. by my improved process.

The lumber used in carrying out my improved process, is out from trees that row to prodigious heights free from natura defects hereinafter to be mentioned and the trunks thereof are of marvelous lengths.

The bodies of these trees are economically cut into logs which are sawed into boards of certain dimensions and the boards dried by the natural process in an atmosphere comparatively free from moisture, by the heat of thesun. The said boards, 2, are cut into strips, 3, shown upon Fig. 2 of the drawing of proper lengths and these strips, 3, are assembled in sufficient numbers as shown upon Fig. 4 of the drawing to manufacture sounding boards economically. These strips 3, out from the boards, 2, are planed and dressed, and the ends, 6, 6, thereof are mitered as shown upon Fig. 2 of the drawing. The said strips, 3, mitered at each end are glued u on their edges, assembled and firmly presse together as shown u on Fig. 3 of the drawing, sufficient in num er to make the board shown upon Fig. 3 of the drawing the Width required by manufacturers of pianos or other musical instrumants. After the requisite number of the said mitered strips 3, 3, are glued, the mitered ends, 6, 6, of the strips are arran' ed in parallel line forming a rhomboida board, and are pressed to ether and dried, as illustrated upon Fig. 3, o the drawing. The rhomboidal board of assembled stri s is now cut upon the diagonal line 10-60, as s own upon Fig. 3, of the drawing forming two sections. The said two sections, trianglular in shape are now laced in position as lustrated u on Fig. 4 o the drawing so as to bring the e ges out upon the line w-x, of

Fig. 3, upon the outer and opposite edges of the sounding board, 4, shown upon Fig. 4 of the drawing,the outer and opposite edges 7 7 of the rhomboidal board illustrated upon Fig. 3 of the drawing having been previously covered with lue are assembled, pressed together and ried forming the completed sounding board, shown upon Fig. 4 of the drawing.

The continuity of the fibers in each section of the strip of lumber composing the sounding board has great efiect in increasing the conduction of the waves of sound and in giving quality to the sound so much desired by manufacturers of musical instruments.

1 have discovered from long ex erience in the manufacture of sounding cards for pianos and other musical instruments, that there is great waste of material employed in their construction, although the lumber be carefully and skilfully selected from the best assorted material now to be found in the markets. This waste arises from natural defects inherent in the lumber, particularly knots'abundantly found in boards sawed in almost every guarter of the globe.

' from trees having short bodies which grow- From these short bo red trees the boards, are

sawed and the best ones are selected from which the best sounding boards now used by trees from which, lumber is sawed that grow alon and in close proximity to the shore of the acific Oceanin a climate and in an atmosphere where cyclones, tornadoes and Wind-storms never prevail, reach rodi ious eiihts without having a single ranc or lim springin' from the trunks thereof.

These trees w en 'cut into lumber furnish boards and strips thereof for sounding boards free from knots and twists and other natural defects which greatly facilitate the manufacture of sounding boards for pianos and other. musical instruments, of a superior character to boards made from lumber hereto'fore employed.

- In the semi-tropical climate of Southern California and other climates similar thereto,

referred to grown andflproduced from trees "Lumber dried by the natural where the atmosphere contains compara-' tively little moisture, I have discovered by experience, that lumber dried or seasoned by the sunshine is of better qualit than lumber dried by artificial. means in c imates containing a great amount of moisture. rocess in the sunalso reduces the cost of pro ucing sounding' boards made from lumber seasoned by artificial means. Besides this, another item in lessening the cost of producing sound- :mg boards for pianos and other musical instruments, I have also considered, and

that is, the southern section of the State of California is in close proximity to the cat dast States herein abover'eferred to.

tree-growing sections of the Pacific In using lumber of the character above indigenous to theregions and 'sectionsof count above mentioned and seasoned and dried by the natural process. of sunshine,

have found that there is a great saving of time, labor and in the cost of production of sounding boards for ianos and other musical instruments, as we as producing sounding with the drawing hereto appended.

It is obvious that .many variations and changes 'in the details of the steps of in improved process would readily suggest t emselves to 'ersons skilled. in the art of makin sounding oards foilpianos and other musica...

instruments and at be within the spirit and ;sco e of my invention.

do not desire to confine this invention to the specific steps herein shown anddescribed i in the specification and claims and the right boards for pianos and other musical instru mentsconsisting in cutting the strips of lumber; cuttin at an a le the opposite ends of the strips a ong ara lel hnes glumg and .assembling the sai strips in numbers sufficient to form the width of the sounding boards to be made along the angular ends to form a rhomboid, pressing the glued and as described my invention, what 1% do a is reserved to make all changes in and modifi-' cations of the same as come the spirit sembled strips together; cutting the rhomboid on the short diagonal line connectin the opposite corners thereof; and gluing an pressmg'to ether the outeropposite edges of the assemb ed strips. a

2. The process of manufacturing sounding boards consistin of mitering the o posite ends of strips of lumber along parallel lines;

- gluing and assembling the said strips to form a rhomboid, pressing the adjacent edges of the strips together and drying the same; cutting diagonally across the assembled strips; and gluing, assembling and pressing together the outer parallel edges of the strips along parallel lines, and drying the same.

3. he process of manufacturing sounding boards, consisting in miteri the ends of strips of lumber along paralle lines; gluing, assembling and pressing the edges of the strips to ether to form a rhomboid; cutti diagonal y across the assembled strips; an gluing and pressing together the two outer palral' el edges'of the assembled strips.

- 4. The process of manufacturing sounding boards consisting. in cutting strips into the length required; mitering the op osite ends of the strips. alon parallel lines; gl assembling in parallefiines the said strips to Hing,

form a rhomboid, pressing and drying the para el e gas of the strips.

5. The process of manufacturing sounding boards consisting in cutting strips into lengths, cutting at an angle the opposite ends of the strips along parallel lines; gluing, assembling and adjusting in alinement to each other the cut angular ends of the strips and pressing together the adjacent edges of the strips parallel to each-other to form a rhomboid; cutting diagonally the assembled strips;

and gluing and pressing together the outside parallel edges of the assembled strips.

6. The process of making sounding boards,

consisting first, in cutting the boards into strips; second, in cutting strips into proper lengths; third, cutting at an angle the ends of the strips along parallel lines; fourth, in

gluing and assembling the adjacent edges of the strips to form a rhomboid; fifth, in pressing together the adjacent and glued .edges of the strips and drying same; sixth, in

cutting diagonally across the assembled strips; and seventh, securing the outside parallel edges of the assembled strips together. I

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

ALFRED DOLGE.

Witnesses: I

ANNA MORGAN, S. A. LAVENDER. 

